the most difficult region on great bear

[TIMBERBEAR810]

First i thought that TWM was the most difficult because of how cold it was and the lack of shelters but now i think its rather HRV or BI as they both are pretty cold and dangerous as Bi has those annoying timberwovles, and not many fully locations but HRV has basically none except ice caves and the small hills everywhere make seeing wolves impossible. So, i think that  HRv is the most difficult but other then that idk.

Edited September 7, 2020 by TIMBERBEAR810

[ManicManiac]

Most difficult, I think, is going to depend on a person's individual playstyle, general proficiency, and how prepared the player is to adapt to a region's particular challenges.  As a result, I don't know there there is a definitively objective "most difficult," but I think it's always interest for folks to discuss which region gave them the most trouble/struggle.

For example:
When Pleasant Valley was first introduced (and for an admittedly long time after), that was the region I found most difficult at the time... that is until I finally forced myself to live there for an extended period of time.

I find Broken Railroad/Old Island Connector can be tricky to navigate due to a relative abundance of wolves (I say tricky because I always aim to evade and avoid predators - obviously it's not a problem if I were to just take down wolves that get between where I am and where I want to go... but that's just not my playstyle )

Personally, Timberwolf Mountain is my favorite place to live (and probably my favorite region in general).

Right now, I'm least familiar with Hushed River Valley and Bleak Inlet... so I suppose those two are the most difficult for me right now.  Mainly because I don't really know what to expect, so I'll have to do more situational adaptation.

I guess for the most part, I think that Hinterland's rating of each region is pretty spot on - but I don't know if I can objectively pick which of the "Advanced" regions would be considered most difficult:

Edited September 7, 2020 by ManicManiac

[haft2doit]

If this were to be judged by early game difficulty Bleak Inlet would have to rank highly.  Any other region a weapon is optional, but BI sort of requires a bow or firearms.  Technically you could get by with a dump truck full of stones, but realistically you need a weapon.  I argue that the region that's most difficult early game is the most difficult... When you are running on all cylinders the difficulty flattens out and then it's a question of what annoys you, which regions are resource sinks, or makes you feel happy/sad.

[Screenshot Pilgrim]

HRV is abundant with wildlife and plants, so if you're a fairly seasoned hunter/gatherer, you'll have enough to eat.  Knowing the map is helpful, and it probably takes longer to learn it than other places, but a cautious approach works well there either way.  You can bail out to north MT for crafting and repair cloth, but once you're out of arrows, knives, hatchets and/or ammo, you'd have to make a trip further afield to restock.  Which means BR (wolves at the Shed), or FM (wolves and fog and bears), or DP (long walk),  and a trip to Bleak Inlet.  All this together makes for some risky travelling in order to have another long stay at Hushed River Valley.

Tough question to answer. 

[melcantspell]

As of now, I think that is a pretty easy question: Bleak Inlet, because it has more predators than other regions (Timberwolves) and allows for less flexibility in your strategies (you need to prepare to fight and you have to access the locations in a certain order & wait for the aurora, so your shelters are harder to plan as well). 

That being said, I really hope that when Hinterland announced that Timberwolves might spread to other regions, it means that things will even out just a little bit. I totally do not know how to deal with Timberwolves and I find it hard to learn it, since it takes so long to prepare for the journey to Bleak Inlet, and then I always die in the first fight. So for now, I avoid BI for the first few hundred days and only go there when I am mentally prepared to die. 

[Screenshot Pilgrim]

@melcantspell -  Not sure if it works on all difficulties, but a flare gun shot dropped into the Cannery yard (take the shot from near the gatehouse or the road) can sometimes get the wolves to scatter for a bit, giving you a chance to sprint past em and get to the rope climb.  Then you can take out a few from atop the gate with a different weapon.

 

[turtle777]

My Timberwolves strategy is simple:

- light a flare, and leisurely walk to the canary. 
 

I have way too many flares, and I never use them for anything else. 
Flares are the TW hall pass. 
 

I don’t bother fighting them until I’m up the rope climb, and use my stashed gun to pick them off. 
That supplies food for weeks.
 

-t 

Edited September 20, 2020 by turtle777

[ManicManiac]

On 9/8/2020 at 5:44 AM, haft2doit said:

BI sort of requires a bow or firearms.

Not necessarily...

A pocket full of rocks and choosing wise places to make a stand (i.e.: out of their reach, but still within throwing distance)... you can break the moral of a timber wolf pack just by pitching stones. 

Also if you are not going to the cannery... then it's not too difficult to avoid the timber wolves all together. 


I'd say bow or firearm is ideal... but not required, if a player is willing and able to be cunning.

[TiffTastic]

I’d say honestly the region where I’ve had the most UNEXPECTED mid and late game deaths/close calls is pleasant valley. It’s got a ton of loot, yeah, but if the classic surprise 29 hour blizzard springs up when you’re far from shelter coming back from a loot run, it’s sooo easy to get turned around, and only so much fire you can bring.....even muskeg is easier to scrap in. So, as far as difficulty, gonna it’s PV, cause it’s the one most capable killing me mid game, when I’m already set on gear.

Tiff🦋

[odium]

id say HRV or Bleak inlet too.  i have saved both of those for last on my current loper run.  im about to do HRV for the saps.  i may save BI a little while longer.  without guns i just cant really justify going there to risk death for saps i dont need yet

[haft2doit]

22 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

Not necessarily...

A pocket full of rocks and choosing wise places to make a stand (i.e.: out of their reach, but still within throwing distance)... you can break the moral of a timber wolf pack just by pitching stones. 

as I said

On 9/7/2020 at 9:14 PM, haft2doit said:

Technically you could get by with a dump truck full of stones, but realistically you need a weapon.

I suppose I should've replaced "need" with "want", but any way you slice it going weaponless in BI is harder than any other map.  Therefore I stand by my reasoning behind BI being the highest difficulty map.

Edited September 21, 2020 by haft2doit

[ManicManiac]

@haft2doit

Fair enough...  I was just adding to that small acknowledgement with some of my own experiences in that region.

The main bulk of the post seemed to be predicated on the idea of "BI sort of requiring" a weapon... I was simply saying, "Ideal yes, but not required."

Edited September 21, 2020 by ManicManiac

[TiffTastic]

There are many places you should have a weapon. I take difficulty as not what kills me fast and easy in early game, but what threatens me on day 57, where normally I can stand my ground against whatever. And the wolves are real bad in BI, but by far still, about 75-80% of my “surprise” deaths are in PV. 

[ManicManiac]

1 hour ago, TiffTastic said:

There are many places you should have a weapon.

True enough, Great Bear is a rough place... and it's definitely ideal to have a weapon to defend yourself.